PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Rev. Dr. Terry Troia, President and CEO of Project Hospitality, on Opioid Settlement Funds and Healthcare Access in Staten Island
2:01:53
ยท
5 min
Rev. Dr. Terry Troia, representing Project Hospitality and other Staten Island organizations, testified about the allocation of opioid settlement funds and healthcare access challenges in Staten Island. She highlighted the disproportionate impact of overdose deaths in predominantly minority areas and the borough's initial exclusion from settlement fund allocation.
- Staten Island received $12 million (7.79%) of the $154 million settlement funds, distributed among 8 substance abuse and harm reduction providers.
- The borough lacks a Health + Hospitals facility, relying on a single clinic and out-of-borough services in Brooklyn.
- The Show Van, which provided crucial healthcare services, was discontinued in Staten Island while continuing in other boroughs.
- Troia emphasized the need for better healthcare access, sharing a personal story of a community member who died despite previous interventions.
Rev. Dr. Terry Troia
2:01:53
Wow.
2:01:53
I never go first.
2:01:57
My name is, reverend doctor Terry Troia.
2:02:00
I'm the president and CEO of Project Hospitality.
2:02:03
We work with homeless people in the borough of Staten Island for the last 40 years.
2:02:08
I've worked with homeless people in the borough of Staten Island for the last 40 years too.
2:02:12
I'm representing not only my agency today, but Staten Island Partnership For Community Wellness.
2:02:17
Tackling youth substance abuse coalition that has been working on the front lines of reducing, youth substance abuse in our borough.
2:02:27
And, I am also a part of the Staten Island overdose task force that's led by our president, Vito Fissella, and our district attorney, Mike McMahan, and we produced a very large report earlier in 2024.
2:02:41
I I just wanna show you, if you'd like show and tell, that this is Staten Island, and this is the north shore of Staten Island, which is, predominantly people of color, and this is the most overdose deaths in Staten Island.
2:02:56
So, even though we are a predominantly white borough, this is the population that is predominantly affected by overdose deaths.
2:03:07
When the first round of opioid settlement dollars came to, New York City, Staten Island was left out of the allocation.
2:03:15
The 4 boroughs got the allocation.
2:03:17
We can't count in the city of New York.
2:03:19
So, there was a lot of hooting and hollering that happened upon our elected officials, most notably our New York State Assemblyman, Sam Perrizzolo, who most people may never have heard of, who led the charge to get the opioid dollars into Staten Island.
2:03:34
We received $12,000,000 of the 154,000,000 which represents 7.79%, Which is about 3,000,000 a year.
2:03:43
3 to 4, 3 to 4000000 a year over the next 3 years.
2:03:47
And it's being distributed to 8 substance abuse treatment providers or harm reduction providers in our borough.
2:03:53
And we are very grateful that we have been able to expand clinic days, clinic hours, and actually, to put some clinics in the south shore of Staten Island where we have a significant drug overdose problem, but where it is not as as well acknowledged publicly.
2:04:10
Further, Staten Island is the only borough in the city of New York that does not have a health and hospitals hospital.
2:04:18
And so we have depended over the last 3 years for the Chauvin to connect our people with care in Coney Island, which is where people have to go for ongoing services.
2:04:29
That's in the borough of Brooklyn.
2:04:32
And it's very hard to get there by public transportation.
2:04:35
There are thousands of people, low income people, working poor on Staten Island who do not qualify for public health insurance, who rely on health and hospitals, one clinic on Staten Island, when we used
Linda Lee
2:04:47
to have
Rev. Dr. Terry Troia
2:04:47
3, and one hospital, Coney Island in Brooklyn, for all their care.
2:04:54
The show van was magnificent for the 3 years that we had it, being able to expose homeless people who didn't have public health insurance to some kind of connection to treatment and care, specifically with the harm reduction, but also with the primary care that was a part of the show van.
2:05:13
The show van funding ended for Staten Island on June 30th of 2024, although it continues in the other 4 boroughs.
2:05:24
And for 6 months, we have had biweekly meetings with our deputy mayor, Isom Williams, and with doctor Ted Long from health and hospitals to get the chauvin reinstated.
2:05:37
At this point, they have absolutely said there's no money to give the chauvin to Staten Island.
2:05:44
What I learned today was very eye opening, may I say.
2:05:48
And instead, they're gonna give us a transport van and a driver to drive people to Coney Island in Brooklyn to get services.
2:05:57
Whatever we could get, if it's got 4 wheels and we have to do that, we will do that.
2:06:02
But you need to know that people are dying on the streets of our borough, even if nobody says it in the newspaper.
2:06:10
And we are continuing our discussions and with doctor Ted Long, most most recently in December, I put another proposal together for him and I'm waiting for feedback from health and hospitals.
2:06:22
A transport van is a consolation prize.
2:06:24
The show van would really be helpful, but it's 2.2.2 per van versus $300,000 for a van and a driver and an escort to Brooklyn.
2:06:35
Let me tell you something about the people that are dying.
2:06:39
There is a man named Daniel.
2:06:41
He was 29 years old.
2:06:44
He was the 1st person I met with COVID.
2:06:46
He was passed out on the sidewalk in March of 2020.
2:06:49
I didn't even think he had COVID.
2:06:51
I picked him up.
2:06:52
I put him in my car, and I drove him to Richmond University Medical Center, where he was diagnosed as one of the first cases in our neighborhood with COVID.
2:07:01
A couple of years later, I took him to Health and Hospitals Clinic on Staten Island for his first visit with a Western doctor after his experience in the hospital, where he got his first TB test.
2:07:14
He spoke Mestayo.
2:07:15
He was an indigenous person, and and it was very hard to communicate with him.
2:07:19
And he had some intellectual impairment.
2:07:21
On January 15th this year, he died in the park across street from my office.
2:07:26
He was one of the first people on the Chauvin, the first person connected with care in our neighborhood.
2:07:31
And that Chauvin's gone, and he's dead.
2:07:34
And he was a very lovely human being.
2:07:36
And I just want to say in closing, what was his life worth?
2:07:41
$154,000,000.